Have you ever been driving down the street oblivious to what might be coming down the road and before you knew it, you hit a speed bump that jars you? You realize that you have been forced to slow down or you are going to tear your car up. Well...I guess that is the best introduction I can give to what I am about to say.

Larry and I have been sailing down the road of ministry and God has been so gracious to allow us the privilege of representing Him in services, rallies and events sharing the simple Gospel message. In the last few months, hundreds have responded to the altar calls. It has been thrilling!

In the middle of all of this, I noticed Larry begin to physically walk slower and then he began to complain of weakness in his legs as well as struggling with balance to the point of tripping easily. He was experiencing extreme muscle spasms followed by muscle loss. It was apparent his motor skills were definitely being affected.

Larry and I have been sailing down the road of ministry and God has been so gracious to allow us the privilege of representing Him in services, rallies and events sharing the simple Gospel message. In the last few months, hundreds have responded to the altar calls. It has been thrilling!

In the middle of all of this, I noticed Larry begin to physically walk slower and then he began to complain of weakness in his legs as well as struggling with balance to the point of tripping easily. He was experiencing extreme muscle spasms followed by muscle loss. It was apparent his motor skills were definitely being affected. As a "blonde" (chuckle), I groaned, "Oh no...is this age creeping up on him?" He has always been so quick, sharp and on the move. We continued taking our daily walks and the last few weeks I noticed, it was becoming a struggle on him so I backed off.

Being half-minded, I thought the walking would strengthen him but we seemed to be getting opposite results. Urgency gripped me and I tried for six months to get him into Mayo Clinic or any clinic to no avail. I thank the Lord, through my sister-in-law, Connie Lundstrom, we finally got him into a neurologist in Minneapolis, MN. One glance at his walk, Dr. Tran knew something was seriously wrong. They proceeded to run a battery of blood tests and an MRI which revealed four vertebrae pushing on his spinal cord. One (which is C4-5) was almost cutting off his spinal cord. The doctor immediately scheduled us with a neurosurgeon. We were referred to Abbott Northwest in Minneapolis to Dr. Negib. He was alarmed at the situation and reworked his full surgery schedule to get Larry in for surgery on July 14^th. They instructed us to protect him from falling or bumping his head as with the current state of his spinal cord, it could cause him to be paralyzed.

We rejoice that God gave us the favor with the doctors and surgeons to get him in so quickly. We would ask for your prayers for him that God would guide the hands of the surgeon and that it will be a successful surgery. Please pray the recovery will be quick, complete and he will be up and running soon. We will be anxious to hit the road again and do what God has given us the call to do and the love to do---reach the lost and hurting.

This surgery will cause a speed bump in our schedule for a few weeks causing the road schedule to slow down but we will definitely be busy in our home office answering prayer requests, letters, phone calls, etc.

Thank you for allowing me to share our prayer request with you. You are "our" family and friends. I know we can count on you for prayer for Larry! We will keep you updated by e-mail and our monthly newsletter.

God bless you,

Gloria

P.S. I would love it if you would send an e-mail to llmin@venturecomm.net or a letter to the ministry if you would commit to praying for Larry as I desire to build a circle of prayer warriors around him. Thank you so much!